Flour method



, Patented July 28, 1942 FLOUR METHOD Fred S. Carbon, Buchanan, Mich.

No Drawing. Application April 20, 1940, Serial No. 330,700

3 Claims.

This invention relates to flour and the method of making the ame, andmore particularly is directed to a flour composition especially adaptedfor use in baking pancakes, waflies, doughnuts, pastry, cakes and the.like.

The present application is-a continuation in part of my copendingapplication, Serial No.

232,846, filed October 1, 1938.

In the art of making flour of the type specifled above, numerou attemptshave heretofore been made to incorporate a malt flavor thereinto.However, all such attempts with which I am familiar have not beensatisfactory, due mainly, I believe, to the fact that malt flour hasbeen used and incorporated directly into wheat or buckwheat flour withcertain amounts of salt and sugar added. Malt flour is a flour made bygerminating wheat flour to build up its diastatic activity, then dryingand milling the grain into a finely divided flour. As a result, the maltflour so produced has a large percentage of diastase or starch, and anyappreciable amount added to a baking flour mixture is so starchy as torender the mixture objectionable. Also, the malt flour, if used in anyproportion suiflcient to assure a malt flavorinthe finished product,produces an oiensive odor in cooking, and renders the resulting productindigestible to an appreciable degree.

Therefore, in the past, the use of malt flour a an ingredient in a flourcomposition has been limited, and I have-found that the use of over 2%of such flour produces a highly indigestible product having an ofiensiveodor in cooking. Further, unless considerably more than 2% by weight ofmalt flour is employed, the improvement in flavor is negligible, andthus the limitations of such previous compositions have rendered themcommercially impracticable.

A further consideration is the fact that malt is hygroscopic incharacter, and if exposed to moisture, rapidly cakes into hard masseswhich cannot readily be broken up. As aresult, the mere addition of maltflour to a flour composition, ii in appreciable quantities sutficient toobtain th. flavor benefits, results in a product which, once the packageor container is opened, rapidly cakes up and cannot be used after ashort period of time.

Recognizing these limitations as the recondite causes for commerciallyunsuccessful malt flour mixtures heretofore prepared, I have developed amalt flour composition containing a relatively high percentage of malt,which is readily digestible, has the desired flavor attributes, and yet,when prepared according to the present invention, has none of thedisadvantages of previous compositions heretofore developed.

One of the primary objects of the present invention i to provide aflourcomposition having a very pleasant malt flavor, which upon bakingproduces a pleasing aroma, and results in a light, readily digestibleproduct having all the advantages of the malt ingredient with none ofthe attendant disadvantages.

Another object of the present invention is to produce a malted flourcomposition which can be exposed to air without the danger of caking orbecoming lumpy.

Still another advantage secured by the present invention is theproduction of a malted flour which can be packaged and distributed inordinary cardboard packages without any danger of losing either itsfineness of texture or its aroma and flavor characteristics.

I have found, after extensive experimentation, that malt flour cannot beused as an ingredient in such flour compositions, but that the desired,

results can be secured only by the use of powdered malt extract, such asthat commercially known as Spray malt, now used extensiveli as maltextract, however, is still highly hygroscopic in character. It difiersfrom malt flour essentially in the fact that it contains a relativelyhigh amount of maltose and dextrin, and little or no starch. As aresult, when baked in a flour mixture, the cell structure produces arelatively light, stiff candylike shell, which has a very pleasingflavor and is readily digestible. Preferably, the

powdered malt extract which I employ is a nondiastaticproduct havingfrom to sugars therein, such as maltose and the like, with from 1 to 4%moisture,

In preparing flour mixes according to the pres- .ent invention, I havefound that to secure the desired malt flavor and digestibilityattributes, an appreciable greater amount of the malt ingredient must beemployed than was heretofore possible. By employing the disclosure ofthe present 'invention I am able to use from 3% to 16% by weight 'of themalt ingredient, which isfar greater than any previous malt flour mixwith which I am familiar. The most desirable percentage, from thestandpoint of flavor, aroma and digestibility, lies in the range of from5% to 10% by weight of powdered malt in the final composition.

It is,..however, of extreme importance that. the

mixture be prepared in a certain manner'under certain predeterminedconditions because of the hygroscopic character of the malt and itstendency to agglomerate and lump when exposed to air. Therefore anotherfeature of the present invention is the method in which the mixture isprepared.

For purposes of illustration, I shall now describe the manner ofpreparing a malted pancake flour composition according to my invention.The final composition is as follows:

This results in a composition having approximately 7 by weight ofpowdered malt extract.

The above composition can be used with the malt increased up toapproximately 40 pounds, and still retaining the desiredcharacteristics, altho the malt flavor, of course, becomes morepronounced.

In mixing the composition, I find that I must first provide a mixingcondition in which the temperature and humidity conditions areaccurately controlled. The mixture will not be satisfactory unless themoisture content of .the mixing atmosphere is kept below predeterminedlimits. I find that under conditions where the room temperature is at orabove 80 and the relative humidity maintained at or below 30% the mostsatisfactory results are obtained. When the relative humidity increasesto any appreciable extent, the mixture is unsatisfactory and ahomogenous product does not result.

In addition to maintaining proper temperature and humidity conditions,however, I find that it is essential that the mixing itself be carriedout in a particular manner. My method, which I have found eminentlysatisfactory, consists in first placing the wheat and buckwheat flour,and

the cornmeal in an agitator. This mixture is then thoroughly agitateduntil the entire mass is completely admixed and is in a state of partialsuspension in the agitator. The powdered malt is then sprayed or siftedin at a relatively slow rate while the agitation is continued. As theseparate particles of powdered malt therefore enter the agitator theyare out of contact with each other, and enter into the flour mixture atrelatively widely spaced points well separated from each other.

Apparently, with this method of mixing, the individual malt particlesbecome immediately coated with a layer of fine flour dust, due to theirhygroscopic character, before they have an opportunity of contacting anadjacent malt particle. This coating seems to isolate the malt particleto an extent such as to render its caking action negligible, and due tothe wide dispersal of the particles throughout the mixture, they do nothave a chance to agglomerate with each other prior to being thus coated.Once coated, they become practically inactive so far as futureagglomeration is concerned, probably due to the fact that the moistureabsorbed from the flour coating is suflicient to offset the hygroscopiccharacteristics. As a result, a perfectly homogeneous mixture isprovided, with the coated malt particles dispersed evenly therethrough.

The other ingredients are then added in a sim- 4 ilar manner, until thecomposition is complete.

I have found that it is then desirable to age the composition for from'six to twelve hours under continuance of the same conditions oftemperature and humidity. This ageing is of distinct advantage as itseems to set the coated malt particles so that when subsequentlypackaged they do not have any tendency to lump or cake in the package,even when the package is subsequently opened and exposed under differentconditions.

It seems, therefore, that to produce a commercially practical maltedflour composition of this character, it is essential, first,- thatpowdered malt be used in place of malt extract flour; second, that themixing be done under certain conditions of temperature and humidity;third, that the method of mixing be carried out in such manner that themixture is. immunized from the hy-- groscopic action of the powderedmalt particles by the coating of flour dust thereover; and,

fourth, that the mixture be aged for an appreciable period beforepackaging.

The resulting product, when baked, produces a very pleasing aroma, amalt flavor which is highly desirable, and a texture which has lightcellular structure with no starch, giving increased risibility anddigestibility. Also, the composition is not subject to caking orbecoming lumpy when stored and/or exposed to normal atmosphericconditions. v

I am fully aware that a number of modifications of the present inventionare possible both in the variation of the composition itself and in themethod of mixing the same, without in any manner departing from theunderlying principles which I have disclosed, and I therefore do notintend to be limited except as defined by the scope and spiritof theappended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of preparing pancake and watfie flour which comprises,thoroughly agitating a mixture of wheat flour, buckwheat flour andcornmeal continuing said agitation while slowly introducing anddispersing not over a 16% concentration of non-diastatic powdered maltextract particles into said mixture at a rate such that each individualparticle is immediately coated with flour as it enters the mixture toprevent agglomeration of said particles in said mixture, and continuingsaid agitation to provide uniform dispersal of said particles throughoutsaid mixture while maintaining a temperature of not less than 80 Rand arelative not more than 30%.

2. The method of claim 1 further characterized by the step of ageingsaid final mixture under said atmospheric conditions for a period of atleast six hours.

3. In the method of preparing a pancake and waflle flour having malttherein in a quantity exceeding 3% but not over 16% by weight, the

.novel step which comprises introducing non-diastatic powdered maltextract into a mixture of flour during complete agitation of said flourat a rate such that the individual malt particles are relatively widelydispersed as they enter the mixture to pick up individual'coatings offlour dust immunizing the mixture against the hygroscopic action of saidparticles, and maintaining a temperature of not less than 80 F. and arelative humidity of not more than 30% during said agitation.

FRED S. CARBON.

humidity of'

